Shock
by Inimitable and Original
Summary: When Clint gets badly injured on a mission, Steve decides to quit the Avengers. But some Avengers decide he's better off with them Rated T for violence, gore and injury detail.
1. Injury

"Clint!" Natasha screamed desperately. "No!" Her voice broke as flames engulfed the injured archer. Her best friend. Her brother in all but blood.

"Sam-how's it looking from above?" Steve asked, urgently looking to the sky for his friend.

"Can's see anything Cap, the smoke's too thick." Sam coughed as the smoke billowed in his direction. "Why? What's happened?"

"We've lost Clint." Steve explained. "In the explosion. Natasha's..." He shook his head.

"You're joking?" Sam said, disbelieving.

"I'm afraid not. You should come down here." Steve sighed.

"I'm going in." Tony lowered his faceplate.

"For the love of God, Stark, be careful." Steve urged.

"Relax, Cap. I'm in a suit of armor. I'll be fine." Tony walked toward the flames, which roared towards him. Steve covered his face while Thor lunged forward to stop Natasha from pursuing. Sam flew down and landed close to Steve, along with Rhodey.

"Rhodes, can you go help Stark?" Steve asked.

"What's...?" Rhodey began.

"Clint's in the fire." Steve mumbled, but Rhodey heard perfectly.

"I'll go and help." Rhodey said with a nod before running into the flames. Steve looked towards the flames as Natasha struggled not to break down. After all her Red Room conditioning and S.H.I.E.L.D training, _this_ would be the thing to reduce her to a sobbing ball with uncontrollable tears. That she's so close to losing her best friend.

"Stark!" Steve said after a long few minutes. Though it may only have been thirty seconds. The waiting was painful. "Have you caught sight of Barton yet?"

What Tony was looking at, he was close to vomiting. "I think I have, Cap." He felt extremely nauseous.

"Bring him out!" Steve commanded.

"I'll bring out what's left of him." Tony muttered.

"Tony, just grab under his armpits, we don't have time for this." Rhodey grunted and picked up Clint's almost unrecognisable legs.

"Sir, my sensors indicate that Agent Barton is indeed alive, but he won't be if he goes for much longer without medical attention." JARVIS urged. Tony gave a slight nod and grabbed Clint under the arms.

"Let's get out of here." Rhodey said.

Natasha dropped down to her knees. She'd heard everything. Clint was going to die and there was nothing she could do. She couldn't bring herself to cry. She just felt numb.

After what felt like forever, Tony and Rhodey emerged and gently put the charred and badly burned body of Clint Barton down on the ground.

"Call an ambulance." Tony said as Thor leapt up into the air to extinguish the flames.

"Tony, why can't we call Dr Cho-"

"There's no time, Steve!" Tony shouted. "He needs to get to a trauma centre or a burn unit as soon as possible. We can't wait for Helen to fly in from Seoul, he needs treatment now!"

Natasha slowly looked over at all the Avengers fussing over Clint. Sam peeled himself away, holding a phone to his face.

"Hello? I need an ambulance please." He said, his voice sounding very shaky, almost as if he was holding in the urge to be sick.

Slowly, Natasha pulled herself to her feet and trembling, walked over to the Avengers. She was the Black Widow. She shouldn't be upset or afraid of what she might see. But as soon as she saw what she did, she let out an audible gasp, dropping to her knees beside her badly burned friend. She couldn't see an inch of him where the skin hadn't melted away and suddenly, she understood Tony and Sam's nausea. Everyone was probably feeling it-except Clint, who was probably comatose by now. There's no way his body would let him feel such intense pain.

"C-Clint?" She said slowly.

No response.

"Please." She quietly begged. "Say something."

No response.

"Clint! Please! Do something!" She screamed. "Say something! Clint!"

"Get her away." Steve shook his head. "She's not helping."

"Clint!" Natasha begged as Tony helped her up. "Please!"

"Natasha, calm down." Tony said gently. So gently in fact that it was uncharacteristic. Immediately, Natasha stopped, wondering about Tony's demeanor.

"I know you were close and I know you're upset." Tony said. "And I know Steve is trying so hard to keep it together and not fall apart. We need you to do the same." He walked her away from Clint's body. "Because it's not helping Clint at all. Okay? At the hospital, once he's getting treatment, fall apart then. But not now. Clint needs us all to stay strong."

"I can't." Natasha shook her head. "I can't. He's everything to me. What do I tell his brother?"

Tony frowned. "He has a brother?"

Natasha nodded. "Yeah. Older. 4 years."

"You think you know a guy." Tony shook his head.

"His brother's married. He has kids. Clint has little nephews and and a niece. What do I tell them?"

"You're scared." Steve said, walking over. Natasha nodded again. "We all are. It's taking everything I've got to try not to break down right now. But it's reminding me a lot of the War."

"Ambulance is on its way." Sam sighed and shook his head. "They're sending a helicopter."

"Sam, are you okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah it's just, I know I didn't know him all that well, but when you see a member of your team go down like that..." He trailed off.

"Plus his body's pretty hard to look at." Tony added.

"What do we tell the others?" Sam asked.

"The truth." Steve said. "That Hawkeye was injured in the line of duty."

* * *

At the hospital, all the Avengers were crowded into the waiting room. Steve was sitting aloof in the corner, resting his head on his knees that he was holding around, indicating that he didn't want to be disturbed. He was crying, but doing his best not to sob loudly in front of the other Avengers.

Natasha was sitting in between Thor and Bruce staring into space. Bruce was playing with his phone, while Thor was looking at Natasha, sadly. Across from them, Wanda and Vision were holding around each other. Wanda was on the verge of tears and Vision was unsure how to react.

Tony was sitting next to Bruce with his arms folded and a frown on his face. Pepper was rubbing his arm soothingly.

Sam was sitting at the end with his head in his hands, upset. He saw it as a repeat of what happened to Riley especially that it happened so quickly and there was nothing he could have done-yet he still blamed himself. He could have stopped Clint from going in. He could have flown in and grabbed him at the first sign of danger.

Rhodey walked in with Bucky, both carrying several cups of coffee.

"Hey guys." Rhodey sighed. "If anyone wants, we brought coffee." Bucky nodded and set the coffee down on the small coffee table. Pepper took a cup as Rhodey set the cups he was carrying down.

"Thank you." She said with a small nod.

"You didn't see him, Pep." Tony said softly. "He had no skin left. At least none that I could see. And-"

"Avengers?" A doctor asked as he entered the room accompanied by another doctor and a nurse. Everyone turned to look except for Steve and Sam, who lifted his head and stared ahead. "The good news is that Mr Barton's still alive. The bad news is that he has burns to seventy-two percent of his body and several broken bones."

"How many is several?" Natasha asked quietly.

"Three ribs, seven vertebrae, his jaw and a very serious skull fracture." The doctor replied. "Any time there's associated fractures, it lowers the chance of survival. And that he's already in his late 30's-"

"Help him!" Natasha pleaded.

"We'll do all we can, but we want you all to prepare yourselves for the worst." The second doctor said.

"There is one more thing." The first doctor added. "We need Ms Romanoff's signature as we're going to try a radical procedure on Mr Barton."

"What is it?" Natasha asked, standing up.

"We need to amputate both of his legs." The first doctor handed her a clipboard. Steve buried his head further and everyone else's eyes widened.

"The trauma is too extensive and it might give him a better chance." The nurse said kindly, noticing Natasha paling. "If you sign the waiver, it'll also allow us to carry out some skin grafts."

"Clint-I..." Natasha shook her head. "If it gives Clint a better chance." She muttered. She took the pen and signed the waiver on Clint's behalf. The first doctor nodded and looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm very sorry that you've been put in this situation, Ms Romanoff." The nurse said and the three walked out of the room hurriedly.

"Natasha?" Pepper frowned sympathetically.

"Clint knew the dangers. He knew the risks of something like this." Natasha nodded.

"It's still come as a shock." Tony shook his head. "Look at Sam. He's catatonic. Steve can't bring himself to lift his goddamn head!" He bit his lip.

"Natasha." Bucky walked over to her, calmly. "Clint budet tyanut' cherez." He said softly, taking her hand. "Ya obeshchayu, chto on budet luchshe."

"I don't... What is he saying?" Tony asked.

"Bucky told Natasha that Clint will survive his injuries." Wanda translated.

Natasha frowned. "Ty ca't obeshchayut chto-to podobnoye James."

"Natasha told him he cannot promise such things"

"Clint yavlyayetsya zhestkim. On byl podnyat v tsirke." Bucky pointed out.

"Bucky pointed out that Clint was raised in the circus?" Wanda said questioningly.

"Da." Natasha nodded.

"Natasha confirmed it." Wanda blinked in shock and everyone-but Steve and Sam-looked to Wanda in suprise.

"On naydet v sebe sily i byt' luchshe snova." Bucky took her hand. "Potomu chto on Clint. Tvoy luchshiy drug."

"He says that he can survive because he is Clint, your best friend." Wanda said with a nod.

"On ne mozhet umeret', ne slysha nashi novosti." Bucky gave a slight smile.

"He cannot die without hearing the news." Wanda relayed with a slight frown.

"What news?" Bruce asked.

"Tony and Pepper are engaged?" Rhodey muttered.

"No, we got engaged-he was at the engagement party!" Tony clicked his fingers repeatedly.

"So he was." Rhodey nodded. "I wonder what it is, then."

Natasha gave a small smile back. "Pravda. On budet rad za nas, ya nadeyus'."

"He will be happy for us." Wanda raised an eyebrow. "I hope."

"She's pregnant?" Tony said in surprise.

"She told me she couldn't get pregnant." Bruce shrugged.

"No idea then." Tony shook his head.

"The genius out of ideas." Rhodey chuckled. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"I'm a genius with tech, but people stump me." Tony replied. "Especially when they're being all vague and cryptic in another language."

"I've failed Clint." Steve said finally and everyone stopped talking immediately. "Just like I failed Bucky all those years ago. Peggy. Myself." He sighed. "I had a duty of care, a mission-to bring Clint back home to his family safely. But I failed it. I broke my promise. Clint's lying-critically ill-on an operating table now, because of my actions-or rather, the ones I failed to take as leader of this team."

"But, Steve-" Bruce began.

"I let Clint do this. I didn't stop him. Try to help him." Steve cast his gaze down at the floor tiles. "He deserved better than a leader like me. You all do."

"Steve." Tony said warningly. "You better not be implying what I _think_ you're implying."

"I'm quitting the Avengers." Steve said, completely ignoring Tony. Sam snapped out of his trance.

"Steve, no. It's not your fault." Sam shook his head.

"Don't do a Good Will Hunting on me, Sam. I'm not in the mood." Tony opened his mouth to say something. "Yes, Tony, I made a reference. I saw that movie." Tony closed his mouth with a slight nod.

"Steve, you can't quit the Avengers." Bruce said calmly. "We need you."

"Because of me, Clint's going to either die or be left in a wheelchair. You _don't_ need that kind of leadership." Steve shook his head.

"You're Captain America." Rhodey protested.

"Nope. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn." Steve shook his head. "Who made a severe mistake and now his close friend is suffering the consequences."

* * *

 **A/N: A short story I've been thinking about writing for months. I finally got it done. Yes, I did get the translations off Google Translate. I don't speak Russian.**

 **This is not connected to the AADW-Verse stories. It loosely follows MCU canon.**

 **I don't own the Avengers.**


	2. Recovery

"On your left!" Tony called out. "Hawkeye! Do you see it?!"

"Yes, Tony, I see it! Be patient!" Clint called out over the headset.

"Hurry up and hit it with your arrow then!" Tony grunted impatiently.

"I can only go as fast as I can go, Tony! I only have three fingers-technically, two fingers and a thumb-left, so I'll hit it when I hit it!" Clint growled.

"This isn't working." Tony sighed and dropped himself down to the floor.

"Wait-what's going on?" Sam asked, landing back on the ground.

"It's not working out." Tony repeated over the comms before lifting his faceplate. "We need a new Hawkeye."

"Hey." Clint said, walking out of the shadows. His face was heavily scarred and his prosthetic limbs were evident. He scratched his head with his robotic arm. "I'm trying my best here, Tony. The scar tissue and the pressure suit are making it hard and awkward. And..." He waved his flesh hand and a chunk of it-along with two fingers-was gone. "This. I'm 80% deaf. The blast deafened me. I am not the same Clint Barton who fought in New York and saw off your Ultron bots in Sokovia."

"No, you're not. But you're still so strong and brave..." Tony began.

Clint rolled his eyes. "There you go again with that rhetoric." He said irritatedly. "Tony, I'm 40 now. Saving the world is- _was_ -my job. _I_ made the risk to diffuse that bomb. _I_ got myself blown up. _I_ got myself put in a two month long coma in the intensive care unit. But I didn't do it to 'be brave'. I did it because it was the right thing to do. I'm no martyr. Stop turning me into one."

Tony bit his lip. "Fine. Take your legs off and I'll have a look at them in my shop tonight." He offered.

"You might wanna try looking at the arm as well." Clint added. "The elbow keeps locking."

"I've tried-I..."

"Just make it like Bucky's." Clint detached the arm and handed it to Tony.

"I can't. I'm neither Russian nor Hydra." Tony stared at the arm blankly.

"You'll figure it out." Clint walked away.

"In fairness to Clint." Sam began. "You _do_ kind of coddle him."

"Have you seen those burn scars?" Tony turned to Sam. "They look..."

"You feel guilty." Sam said, simply. "I get it, man. Really, I do. But Clint can handle himself emotionally. He knows he's strong. He held on to life when doctors gave him little chance of survival. He's here now. He knows he's tough. Give him a chance to prove it instead of, well, not letting him do anything."

"What do you think I just did?!" Tony asked, exasperatedly.

"Gave up on him." Sam sighed. "We need Steve back."

"Steve won't come back. He hasn't talked to any of us in a year and a half."

"He's talked to me." Sam shrugged. "And Natasha. And Bucky. And Clint..."

"You kidding me?" Tony grunted. "Go. Go get him back."

"He's afraid of what he did to Clint." Sam said. "He'll talk to Clint but he feels very guilty that he's been burned. And only has one limb now."

"But Clint lost his arm to an infection." Tony pointed out. "Surely Steve knows that."

"He says that Clint wouldn't have lost his arm if he hadn't needed skin grafts or been burned there in the first place." Sam shook his head. "You might be better leaving Steve alone. Maybe he'll come back in his own time."

Tony nodded slowly as Sam walked away.

* * *

"Hey there, lovebirds." Clint said as he walked past Natasha and Bucky.

"Clint." Natasha gave him a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

Bucky frowned. "Where's your arm?"

"Tony's taking a look at it." Clint gave a one sided shrug. "I don't like the elbow. It keeps locking when I'm trying to loose my arrows."

"Use your left arm for arrows." Natasha suggested.

"Nah. With just two fingers that makes that hard." Clint chuckled. "Also, Nat, can you help?"

"Help with what?" Natasha asked. Clint glanced down at his robotic legs. "Your legs?"

"Yeah. Tony wants to look at _them_ too." Clint replied.

"Want me to get your wheelchair?" Bucky offered.

Clint paused and then nodded. "Yeah. If you could, please, Bucky." Bucky gave a nod and kissed Natasha before leaving.

"No matter how often I see you in that, it breaks my heart, Clint."

"I know, Nat. It reminds you of the accident. Doesn't it?" Clint sighed and looked away. "Barney-my hardened criminal brother-cries, Laura can't look at me." He grunted. "The kids are terrified of my face."

"They'll get used to you, Clint." Natasha put her arm on his shoulder. "They don't see you every day. They're young and don't know how to react."

"Either that or I look too much like Freddy Krueger now." Clint rolled his eyes.

"Clint, they're little kids. I doubt the baby even knows who Freddy Krueger even is." Natasha folded her arms.

"The baby's just terrified of me because he's a baby." Clint sighed.

"I know you're self conscious of your face-"

"Having your skin melted away and new skin laid on top will do that to you."

"But Barney, Laura, the kids... They'll get used to it. They'll get used to you as you are. Besides, you didn't lose all your face." Natasha pointed out. "And you still have some hair left."

"Yeah, but look at my face, Nat. It looks terrible." Clint ran his fingers along the lumpy scars on his face.

Natasha shrugged. "I'm not scared of you." She planted a friendly kiss on Clint's cheek. "And I know James isn't either." Clint scratched his face and Natasha gently took his hand away. "You know you're not supposed to be doing that, Clint."

"Nat, it just itches so badly." Clint frowned.

"So James and I'll help moisturize your skin later." Natasha gave him a small smile.

Clint frowned. "What? Can you repeat that?"

"I said that James and I will help you to moisturize your skin." Natasha repeated, slightly louder and letting go of his wrist.

Clint nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"What did I miss?" Bucky asked, pushing Clint's wheelchair into the room.

"Clint's been scratching at his burn scars." Natasha explained.

"So he needs to be moisturized again." Bucky nodded.

"I said we'd help in a bit." Natasha nodded.

"Mmn." Bucky grunted. "It's for the best." He walked over to Natasha and kissed her.

"That still weirds me out." Clint chuckled lightly.

"Oh, you're just jealous that me, Barney, Steve, Tony-we all have people and you have nobody." Natasha teased, pushing her friend gently.

Clint smiled and sat down in the wheelchair. "You got me, Nat!" He joked back.

"Come on, Clint. Let's get your legs off and down to Tony's lab." Bucky knelt down and ran his flesh hand along Clint's robot leg. "I can't find the button."

"At the top." Clint huffed as Bucky's leg travelled up his thigh. "That's my thigh, Bucky. My _flesh_ thigh."

"Oh, sorry, Clint." Bucky blushed.

"I lost both my legs just above the knee. So by my knee." Clint sighed.

"Just here, James." Natasha leaned over Clint's leg and detached it with ease. "Maybe you should wear more baggy shorts, Clint."

"Screw that, Nat, it's winter."

"At least it's not Summer where you're at risk of sunburn on your new skin." Natasha pointed out.

"You worry so much about me." Clint chuckled.

"Who else would?" She asked as Bucky detached the other leg.

Clint sighed. "We need Steve back."

"He won't listen to me." Natasha shrugged.

"And he tried to throw me out the last time I mentioned it." Bucky shook his head.

"Maybe I should have a word." Clint offered.

"Yeah, I don't know about that." Bucky said doubtfully.

"He's very shaken up about the whole ordeal with you, Clint." Natasha frowned. "Maybe go talk to him, but don't mention that you want him to... Go back to the Avengers?"

"Nat, we need him." Clint grunted, slamming his hand on the arm of his wheelchair.

"Clint, you're going to damage the controls." Natasha said. "This is already your _third_ wheelchair."

"Well, the first one malfunctioned"

"Because of Tony." Bucky added.

"The second one, Tony tried to trick out and make it go faster." Clint groaned. "The battery exploded."

"Yeah, that was pretty funny." Bucky chuckled, gaining a glare from Natasha. "I mean, no, that wasn't funny."

"It took a few days to convince Tony to get a new wheelchair and not mess with it." Natasha said. "You break the controls, he's going to try to improve the next one. If he even _gets_ you a new one that is. They cost thousands."

"He's a billionaire. A thousand dollars is nothing to him." Clint gave a one sided shrug.

"A _few_ thousand dollars, Clint." Natasha stood up and folded her arms. Clint grunted. "Clint, I mean it. Motorized wheelchairs are expensive. Take care of this one."

"Yeah, yeah." Clint rolled his eyes. "Let's just get my legs to Tony in the lab."

* * *

Natasha, Bucky and Clint entered Tony's lab, where he was building his newest Iron Man armor.

"You're interrupting." Tony said, turning around. He looked the three over. "I was expecting you here earlier, Barton."

"Tony, give me a break. I've got one limb and three fingers left." Clint grunted.

"Yeah, I know." Tony said.

"And don't you _dare_ call me brave." Clint snarled and gripped his wheelchair's joystick tightly.

"Actually, Legolas, I've made you new hearing aids." Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Oh." Clint relaxed. "I've just got used to these."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but given that you're missing an ear, I messed with the design a bit and this should fit better."

"Oh." Clint sighed.

"As irritating as he is, he's been really good with your adaptions, Clint." Pepper said as she walked into the lab with a cup of coffee and a donut.

"He has tried to make your life better since the explosion." Bucky agreed. "I never had that. I just had Hydra turn me into a living weapon."

"You, Nat and I, we're all living weapons." Clint leaned his head back on his headrest. "I want to be more than that. I want what Barney has."

"Well, with these new hearing aids, you'll be able to call your brother. Talk with him on the phone." Tony picked up a box and offered it to Clint. Natasha and Bucky each set down Clint's robotic legs on Tony's workbench.

"Thanks." Clint took the box. "I'm going to see Steve." He announced.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah, Clint's alive. This story's about him so he pretty much had to survive. Also, I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be the last. Where Natasha, Sam, Bucky and Clint go on an Indiana Jones (lol no way) quest to find Steve.**

 **Also, in this fic, Laura is Barney's wife and Clint's sister-in-law while Cooper and Nathaniel are Clint's nephews and Lila is his niece.**

 **I don't own the Avengers.**


	3. Redemption

**A/N: Ablism is rampant in this chapter and if you don't know what Ablism is, you'll find out soon enough.**

* * *

"Clint, you're nuts." Sam blinked.

"I know I'm nuts, but we need Steve to come back to us." Clint sighed.

"He's not going to come back to you." Sam said. "I'm sorry, Clint, but he's not. Not the way you are."

Clint looked himself over. "The robotic limbs you mean?"

"And the powerchair." Sam shrugged.

"But I like the chair." Clint protested. "It gives me freedom to-"

"Make your case to Steve, not me!" Sam said exasperatedly.

"That's what I'm planning to do, but I need your help." Clint said. "Just like I need Nat and Bucky's help-still can't believe they're a thing."

"When they first talked about it, you were in hospital." Sam chuckled. "It was in Russian and we all thought he'd somehow impregnated her."

"But she can't get pregnant."

"That's why it was funny."

"Have Bucky and Natasha agreed to this?"

"Yes." Clint nodded. "They have."

"Are you going to do it in the chair or..." Sam frowned.

"I'm using my wheelchair. My robot limbs are for Avenging duties only." Clint chuckled.

"You like that chair, huh?" Sam smiled.

Clint shrugged. "I don't see myself as 'confined' to it. It gives me freedom to get around. Now that I don't have my legs."

"Make your case to Steve." Sam repeated.

"I know you don't think it'll work." Clint scratched at his facial scars. Sam gently took Clint's hand away from his face.

"Don't do that, Clint." He said with a nod.

Clint cleared his throat. "But we have to try. Steve wouldn't give up. I-in fact, he hasn't. You, Bucky, Nat and Steve are my closest friends. And I'm missing one of them." Clint sighed sadly.

* * *

"I know how you feel, Clint." Sam said. "We're all missing Steve."

"Steve, open the damn door!" Bucky shouted, pounding on Steve's door with his metal arm. "Steve!"

"Steve, it's Sam and Bucky here." Sam grunted. "Open up."

"But I'm-" Clint began. Natasha covered his mouth with her hand.

"It's just us." Bucky insisted. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about movie night already?"

"Steve!" Sam shouted.

"What-uh... What's going on?" A voice asked from behind. Everyone turned around and saw Steve with his key in his hand and in the other hand, a bag of groceries-he'd been out shopping.

"Nothing." Natasha shook her head. "We thought you weren't answering."

"And you didn't think it was because I was out?" Steve asked, pushing past the four to get to his door.

"Uh..." Bucky rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"You all might as well come in." Steve sighed, holding the door open and everyone entered. "So... How're you doing, Clint?" He asked, not looking at the archer.

Clint sighed. "I'm fine, Steve. But we need you to come back to the Avengers."

"It's not the same without you." Bucky added.

"And Tony's kind of a Kim Jong Un." Sam folded his arms. "Very dictator-y."

"And slightly despotic." Natasha said dryly.

"He wants to get rid of Clint," Sam began, "despite making him robot limbs."

Steve flinched. "He wouldn't need them if it wasn't for me."

"Steve, how many times must we go over this-it was my own damn choice." Clint growled, slamming his hand down on the control pad of his wheelchair.

"And how many times, Clint, have I told _you_ not to slam your hand on the controls?" Natasha asked accusingly. "Please, don't break it. I enjoy seeing you have your freedom and I know you enjoy having it."

"That-" Steve gestured to Clint's wheelchair. "-is not freedom. He's stuck in it, day in, day out. He can't walk, he can't move, he can't hear he can't to anything except blink! And it's all my fault!"

"But of an over exaggeration there, Steve." Clint raised an eyebrow. "I _can_ move." He wiggled his stumps and waved his arm. "I _can_ walk. And I can't hear-I'll give you that, but my hearing is improved with hearing aids." He sighed. "Steve, this is 2017. Not 1937. There's all kinds of wonderful adaptions now and this motorized wheelchair is one of them."

"Steve, Clint's life's not over." Natasha said gently.

"His _career's_ not over." Bucky scoffed. "He's still Hawkeye. He's still one of us-an Avenger."

"And he has a Captain America to look up to." Steve shook his head.

"But he's not _the_ Captain America." Sam said. "You are."

"Hey!" Bucky said indignantly.

"It's true, Bucky." Sam pointed out.

"Steve, how do you feel about my arm?" Bucky asked.

"Well..."

"You see it as a part of me, don't you?"

"Well..."

"Why don't you see Clint's wheelchair as part of him?"

"Actually, that's not what I-" Clint began.

"Just look at the poor guy-he's trapped!" Steve said exasperatedly.

"Steve." Clint said warningly.

"I think he's brave for carrying on the way he is-if I ended up like that, I'd probably kill myself!" Steve blurted out. Everyone's jaw dropped, while Clint glared angrily.

"You shouldn't have said that." Sam shook his head slowly.

"I'm sorry my disability makes you feel so uncomfortable." Clint seethed. "But you of all people-and Bucky-should understand what it's like."

"Steve, respect that Clint's still a person." Natasha said. "I know Clint makes you feel uncomfortable because you believe yourself to be responsible for his injuries and subsequent disabilities, but please, try to see him as a person."

Bucky pulled off his metal arm. "Am I not a whole person now?"

"Bucky, don't do this." Clint grabbed his flesh arm. "Please."

"Clint, you're my friend. I feel like I have to." Bucky sighed.

"We're all friends here." Clint pleaded. "Bucky."

"Your arm's different." Steve said.

"Because we've known each other-technically-for over 90 years?" Bucky raised an eyebrow.

"James." Natasha scolded as Bucky put his arm back on.

"Shut up!" Clint shouted. "You're all squabbling over each other and I can't hear anything-only voices! I'm going to have my say and you're all going to shut up and listen because I'm the one in this position-not any of you-and though I _am_ Deaf and my ASL ability is impeded, I can still communicate using my mouth just fine. Watch, I'm doing it now." He nodded. Okay. Steve, I like my wheelchair." He said. "Yeah, I've been dealt a bum hand, but I'm making the best of it. I can't push a manual wheelchair with just one hand and three fingers, so I have a motorised wheelchair to do it for me. I can't do archery, that's where my prosthetic limbs come in-three of them actually, since I'm a triple amputee. They let me run and jump and keep up with my fellow Avengers." Steve opened his mouth to speak, but Clint cut him off first. "You're wondering why I don't wear them all the time? That's because-unlike Bucky's arm-Stark didn't design them for all the time wear. He designed them for Avenging only. So I can pass as normal and do my archery. For the most part, they work-although the joints _do_ lock. However, I'm very happy with what Stark's given me. Freedom, mobility, autonomy."

"But your scars." Steve frowned.

"Natasha massages prescribed moisturiser into my skin every few hours." Clint replied. "I have to cover up in the sun and wear a lot of sun cream. And pressure suits. I elected not to have one on my face. And you know, I have lots of little kids look up to me now-the ones who aren't afraid of me, anyway. I've spoken to burn survivors. I'm easily now the most famous Avenger because of what happened to me. Do you know how many interviews I've been invited to do?But my brother's family pity me. I can't deal with that from you too, Cap."

Steve cast his gaze downwards. "I remember seeing you after Stark and Rhodes pulled you from the flames. Your skin was all melted off. Your limbs were mangled. We thought you were dead until JARVIS told us you were still breathing."

"And Stark's now made everyone's costumes flame retardant." Clint gave a small shrug.

"And in the hospital, we were all really very distressed. You went in for immediate surgery and your legs were amputated. When we saw you after, I went in with Natasha and you were bandaged up-you looked like a mummy, Clint. A mummy without legs."

"I had third degree burns, Steve." Clint replied. "I know. I had skin grafts up until a few months ago. I'm missing an ear. And 80% of my hearing. Lost in the explosion. But I'm not focusing on what I don't have anymore. I'm focusing on my archery and getting better and faster until I'm close to what I was-I'll never be what I was and I've accepted that. But if I can get within even 30%, it's good enough."

After a long awkward silence, Sam spoke up. "He's still good at what he does, Steve. But he needs you to push him to be better. We all do. We miss you very much."

"Steve. Please. Come back to the Avengers." Clint put his hand on Steve's. "My accident wasn't your fault."

* * *

 **A/N: That's the end. I'll be publishing a small epilogue just to tie up the loose ends-will Steve go back or won't he?-but for the most part, yeah, it's the end. Sorry.**

 **And Steve's not an ablist, despite what he said. He feels he let Clint down, but Clint sees it that Steve has a slight prejudice. And he might be living a bit in the past where the kind of injuries and disabilities Clint is living with... You didn't see that a lot in the 1940's. He's afraid, embarrassed and ashamed of what he believes he did to Clint and that he let his friend and Avenger get hurt like that. Short version, he's upset and is doing an Obi Wan Kenobi/Yoda/(mild spoilers for TFA) Luke Skywalker, while Clint, Sam and Natasha just want their friend and leader back.**

 **Yes, Bucky is Captain America.**


	4. Epilogue

It's 2018 now and a lot has changed. We have so many Avengers now-there's like 20 of us now. And SHIELD's back, too. Coulson's leading it, which is strange since he was dead, but hey, I survived death as well. My family aren't scared or upset at the sight of my face any more.

Three of my limbs are robotic and my hearing is awful, but I'm still Hawkeye. And Hawkeye doesn't give up. That might be why I got my Avengers status back so quickly. Actually, I never lost it, but I had to work to get back to where I was and boy was it almost impossible. But yeah, the robot limbs do most of the work-as do the trick arrows. A splodie arrow will be enough to take down a Hydra helicopter, right? Well, if it almost took down a Helicarrier, I suppose it could.

But it's not like I need the arrows too much any more. Somehow, I've been transformed and I have superpowers now-like honest to god superpowers. Somehow, I'm telekinetic now-which is how I found Coulson again. Says I'm Inhuman, but what do I care? I get to rub it in everyone's face who made fun of me for not having any-who's laughing now?! And mine are natural-I wasn't nuclear radiated like Bruce, experimented on like Wanda, have armor like Stark and Rhodes or injected with super soldier serum like Steve, Natasha and Bucky.

Oh! Steve! Did I mention that Steve came back to us? Well, he did. We have our Captain America back. He came back after I gave him that talk last week-not immediately, mind, but it was a deciding factor, I'm sure. Maybe I'm overestimating my interpersonal skills here.

I've heard news of a new superhero group calling themselves the Defenders. All of this is good news. Because I'm also hearing that an alien is coming. A big, bad alien who wants to kill everything that stands in his way. But I'm ready for him. We all are.

* * *

 **A/N: Officially the end. I wanted to end it on a happy note for Clint, so I settled on he gets his friends back, his position back and the added bonus of superpowers. And also, the future's uncertain because the drums of war are beating for the looming Infinity War.**

 **Might do a sequel. Might not. It depends how I feel.**


End file.
